Thursday, July 18, 2013

Help. No really...HELP!

Because the senate blocked the only bill to stop the Common Core in Oklahoma this session (HB1719
- through an addendum written by Representative Dennis Casey that was
never even added to the bill on the state legislature website!), we MUST
continue our fight against Common Core through the rest of the summer
months.

Unfortunately, we've come to believe that it's possible T.W. Shannon is NOT
really against the Common Core and the many legislative shenanigans
going on at the end of this last legislative session regarding Common Core were because he
- and other Republicans - were attempting to pacify the electorate
rather than do the right thing for Oklahoma.

I would like to
think this untrue, but okaying language for a bill that accidentally
gets into a Senate appropriations committee whose chair (Clark Jolley)
is a HUGE Common Core proponent with only a week left to go in the
session only to have the chair block the bill only then to introduce the
HR on the House floor at the 11th hour...well, one's imagination does
not have to make a Yoga-like stretch to see that
constituents/parents/taxpayers definitely could have been manipulated.

How can you NOT help but think that a number of our Oklahoma Republican law makers are simply taking the
tax dollars of hard working Oklahomans in one hand while taking money
from special interest groups such as the Chamber of Commerce with the
other; doing their bidding at the expense of REPRESENTATIVE government,
all to secure funding and political clout for their next campaign.

Last
month, we were told by Chief of Staff Joel Robison that we would be
allowed to speak THIS MONTH, at the meeting on JULY 25!

We
are asking you to please come and help us FLOOD the tiny room in which
the meetings are held. WE MUST MAKE AN IMPACT! If we're going to win
this battle, WE MUST SHOW UP. We know you are out there, we know there
are THOUSANDS of you with us, but no one else will know unless you SHOW
UP.

Please, be at the Oliver Hodge Building (the one northeast of the
capitol on the Capitol Complex on Lincoln) on the first floor. Go in
the northwest facing door, walk passed the secretary's office door and
turn right at the next. Go all the way down the hall to the meeting
room. Outside the door, there will be a table. Sign in for public
comment, indicating Common Core. You MUST be there NO LATER THAN 9:15
to sign in and speak. You will only have 3 minutes to speak, so I
suggest you type up your thoughts (bring some copies to hand out to the
media) in order to say all you feel you need to say.

I
know this isn't fun. I know there are things you'd rather do. Consider
it "taking one for the team"! We ask you to sign up and commit to
coming. You can do that here.

It
is IMPERATIVE the Board hear the thoughts of parents, teachers and
taxpayers on this issue. WE NEED YOU TO BE THERE.

Now, if you are concerned about what to say, there are ANY NUMBER of pieces of literature you can find on our blog, or Scribd account - or on our Facebook page - about which to opine against the infringement on our state's educational liberty. If you are still stumped by the end of next week, email me and I will be happy to help you out. Remember, this isn't about ROPE - this is about Oklahoma's KIDS - our STUDENTS. Let's do what we can to give them the LOCALLY inspired tools to help them do whatever they want in life!

If you've thought about home educating your children but have not yet attempted the task, why?

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Only parents can truly know what’s best for each of their individual children and only parents have the vested interest necessary to raise children with the education each will need to become productive Oklahomans and Americans. Every child has the right to an education best suited to them, and every parent has the right – and duty – to provide such an education. ROPE 2.0 seeks to help equip parents with the information necessary to best champion their child’s educational needs.